Means for applying wound covering to elastic thread



Dec. 18, 1951 A. G. SEIFRIED MEANS FOR APPLYING WOUND COVERING TO ELASTIC THREAD 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec. 12, 1946 inf 22' 70a.

MEANS FOR APPLYING WOUND COVERING TO ELASTIC THREAD Original Filed Dec. 12, 1946 Dec. 18, 1951 A. G. SEIFRIED 3,SheetsSheet 2 Ffifscz lllllllll-FI Dec. 18, 1951 A. e. SEIFRIED MEANS FOR APPLYING WOUND COVERING TO ELASTIC THREAD 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Dec. 12, 1946 lllil m/EZ Z'ZYE finfan E-EEJFEfEd Patented Dec. 18, 1951 MEANS FOR APPLYING WOUND COVERING TO ELASTIC THREAD Anton'Grseifried, Akron, Ohio, assignor' to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application December 12, 1946, Serial No;

715,881; Divided and this application April 8, 1950, Serial No. 154,779

2 Claims. (01. 57- 15) This invention relates to applying wound coverings about elastic thread and'isespecially useful in the application of windings of textile material about fine threads of elastic rubber or other rubber-like material.

The present application is a division of my application Ser. No. 715,881, filed December 12, 1946, entitled Applying Wound Covering to Elastic Thread, now Patent No. 2,509,372 issued May 30, 1950.

In the manufacture of'textile covered rubber thread it has been desirable to provide a stretchable covering of cotton, rayon, silk orsimilar textile threads wound helically about a fine filament of rubber or other elastic rubber-like material in layers of different angular pitch. A great many threads may simultaneously be covered under the care of a single operator and machines for such operations have usually been provided with a great number of fiiers for handling a multiplicity of threads.

Heretofore difficulties have been experienced in simultaneously driving the fiie'rs at uniform speeds especially in starting and stopping the fliers. Other difficulties have been encountered in stopping and starting individual fliers such as becomes necessary due to breaking of threads. Still further difficulty has been encountered due to change in diameter of the reels of covering material on the fliers causing change in the lay of the covering about the rubber thread.

It is an object of the invention to overcome the foregoing and other difficulties.

Other objects are to provide for positive driving of the fliers, to provide a single source of driving power for the supply, the fliers and the wind-up reels, topro'vid'e for driving the fliers first frictionally to substantially the normal velocity and then positively at the normal velocity,

Fig; 2 is 'a detail View of aportion of the wind up mechanism.- v A T Fig.- 3 is aside elevation-of the apparatug-a seen from the left in Fig.1; 1 Y

2 Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the apparatus as seen from the right of Fig. 1, parts being broken away,

Fig. 5 is a detail view of one-0f the fliers and its driving connections, parts being broken away and parts shown in section.

Referring to the drawings, these showapparatus for covering two rubber threads, it being understood that in production apparatus a multiplicity of threads may be covered by a single apparatus. A frame It has vertical'fraine members H, I2, l3, i l secured together by longitudinal rails l5, [6 on which similar geared transmission units ll, l3 are mountedin vertical alignment for driving the fliers I9, 19a,

Each geared transmission unit, as illustrated in Fig. 5, has a housing 20 in which a worm 2! of high pitch is mounted with its axis vertically supported on ball bearings 22. The worm has an axial bore which surrounds a hollow shaft 23 extending therethrough. A horizontal shaft 24 is also journaled' in the housing and has a worm wheel 25 secured thereto and engaging "the worm 2!. The hollow shaft'23' has a collar 26 secured to it near its upperend by setscrews 27. A flange 28 is fixed to collar26 and has a pair of driving pins 29 secured thereto. A flange 35 is fixed to the worm 2land has sockets 3! for receiving the tapered ends of'the drive pins for positively'driving'the'rlange 28 from the worm 2 i.

A cheese 35 of covering material wound on a paper tube 361s mounted about collar 26 against flange 28 and is heldfrictionally thereon by the collar. A'second flange 3? rests on the upper end of the cheese and has a centering collar 33 thereon which fits within theupper end of the paper tube 36 and about shaft 23. An empty tube may be removed and replaced by a full tube by removing the flange '31. A guide bushing 36 has a frictional fit in the bore of shaft 23 and carries a guide disc 4|. Aflier arm 42 comprising a thin apertured disc 53 of vulcanized fiber for surrounding the guide'bushing 40 and a wire arm :24 having a pigtail guide 48 at its outer'end and fixed to the fiber disc, is'frictionally held against the flange 31 by a weighted loose collar This permits the arm to rotate relative to the cheese under light frictional drag during rotation of the cheese about the rubber thread.

The rubber thread 5Q is drawn upwardly through the bore of the shaft 23 during the winding operation and the covering material 5! is unwound from the cheese 35 and is guided by the arm 42 and disc 4i as it is wound onto the rubber thread. a

An important feature of the invention is in the provision of means for driving the flier frictionally until it attains the high speed of its driver and thereafter driving it positively.

For driving the flier frictionally, a clutch disc 52 is fixed to shaft 23 and is opposed to a clutch member 53 slidably mounted on the upper end of worm 2|. Clutch member 53 has a friction face 54 and is retained on the worm by spring-pressed balls 55 engaging in dumbbell shaped cavities 56 in the worm. A collar 51 is supported below the clutch member 53 and acts as a clutch shifter. .Shaft 23 is, formed at its lower end with a bulbed enlargement 58 whereby it may be engaged by a removable shifter 59.

When the shaft 23 is raised by the shifter 59, the driving pins 29 are raised from the sockets 3| and the clutch member 53 is contacted by the collar 51 and raised so that its retainer balls 55 engage the upper. part of the dumb-bell depressions holding the .flier at its disengaged position where the cheese tube may be removed and replaced by a loaded tube. As upward pressure of the shifter 59 isreleased, the clutch member 53 stays at its upper position, the clutch member 52 is pressed thereagainst by the weight of the cheese and the flier is frictionally driven. When the flier attains full speed, the shaft 23 is lowered by the shifter 59, thereby engaging the driving pins 29 with the disc 30, and driving the flier positively. A latch 60 is pivotally mounted on the housing 20 and may be manually engaged under the flange 28 to holdthe flier in disengaged position while making the change. Fliers I9, I9a and their drivers I'I, I8 are of the same construction except that the ratio of gearing may be different to apply successive coverings as different angular advance or lay and the fliers I9 and I9a are driven in opposite directions to lay coverings of crossed windings.

For feeding the rubber thread to the covering mechanism, a pair of cradle rolls 65, 66 are fixed to horizontal shafts 61, 68 respectively which extend across the lower part of the frame and are journaled thereon, there being one pair of cradle rolls beneath each flier I9. A roll 69 of rubber thread is placed on the cradle rolls and its thread 50 is led under a fixed guide bar II in vertical alignment with the axis of the flier I9. The cradle rolls are powerdriven as hereinafter described.

For withdrawing the covered rubber thead from the flier I9a, a horizontally disposed power driven shaft I2 is journaled in the frame and has two grooved pulleys I3, I4 fixed thereto above each flier I9a, the pulley 13 being positioned with its groove in alignment with the axis of the flier. A shaft I is also journaled in the frame parallel to shaft I2 and is driven therefrom by sprockets I6, 'I'I engaging a chain I8. The covered thread is led about the large pulley I3, then about the shaft I5 and then about the small pulley I4 whereby enough friction is developed to pull the thread from the supply roll through the fliers.

A reel 80 for winding up the covered thread is removably mounted in chucks 8|, 82 rotatably supported by the frame. One of the chucks 8| is driven by a chain 83 and sprockets 84, 35 from a shaft 86. Shaft 86 is in turn driven from shaft I2 by a gear 8'! on shaft I2 engaging a gear 88 rotatable about a stub shaft'89 and a gear 90 fixed to gear 88 and engaging a .gear

9| on shaft 86. Shaft I2 is driven in a manner hereinafter described.

For distributing the covered thread on the reel 80, a pair of vertically disposed shafts 95, 96 are journaled on the frame. Arms 91, 98 are fixed thereto respectively and their outer ends are pivotally connected to a transverse bar 99 having pigtails I00 for guiding the threads. A crank pin IOI is fixed to sprocket 84 and a connecting rod I02 operated thereby is connected to an arm I03 fixed to shaft 95. The arrangement is such that the transverse bar is moved laterally to distribute the thread on the reel as the reel is rotated.

It is also a feature of the invention to drive all of the fliers, the supply rolls and the wind-up reels'from a single-source of power and thereby to provide uniform speed throughout. To this end, a motor I05 is provided on a platform extension I06 of the frame and a pair of variable speed transmission units IOI, I08 are provided between the motor and the driven mechanism. The drive shafts 24 of the geared transmissions of fliers I9, I9a are connected to each other in series by flexible couplings I69 with a driving shaft 'IIO which is driven from motor I05 by a chain III and sprockets II2, II 3. A second sprocket H4 on the shaft of motor I05 drives a sprocket II5 on the input shaft II6 of speed transmission I08 through a chain III. The output shaft II6a. of the transmission I08 carries gear I04 which meshes with a gear I04a on a shaft II8. Shaft H8 has a sprocket II9 secured thereto which drives a sprocket I on a shaft journaled on the frame through a chain I2I. This arrangement provides for driving the fliers I9a in the opposite direction to the direction of flier IS. Sprocket I20 is connected to fliers I9a b a flexible coupling I22 and similar couplings connect the drive shafts of fliers I9a to each other to drive them in unison. The arrangement is such that by adjustment of the transmission I08 through hand wheel I23 thereon, the fliers I9a may be driven at a different speed with relation to fliers I9. This is desirable where the angular pitch of one layer of the covering is to be different than that of another layer. One adjustment of transmission I08 fixes the desired ratio which continues throughout a run of thread. A dial I6I on the transmission I08 indicates the setting thereof.

The second variable speed transmission I0! is employed to adjust the speed of travel of the rubber thread through the fliers. It is driven by a sprocket I24 fixed to shaft H6 and connected by a chain I25 to a sprocket I26 on the input shaft I21 of the transmission. Output shaft I28 is connected to a speed reducer I29 which has a sprocket I30 connected by a chain I3I to a sprocket I32 fixed to shaft 68 which drives the cradle rolls. Shaft 68 has a gear I35 fixed thereto which meshes with a gear I36 rotatable about a stub shaft I3-I. A sprocket I38 is fixed to gear I36 and engages a chain I39 which drives a sprocket I40 rotatably mounted on a stub shaft I4I. A sprocket I42 is fixed to sprocket I40 and drives shaft I2 through a chain I43 engaging sprocket I6. The arrangement is such that the surface speed of cradle rolls 65, 66 and the pulling pulleys I3 is uniform and the rubber thread proceeds from one to the other with substantially no change of stretch, the speed of travel of the rubber thread being controlled by the variablespeed transmission I0].

During the covering operation, the amount of covering material on the flier spools gradually decreases with a reduction in diameter of the material on the spools which would normally result in a change in the lay of the covering. The spools hold a considerable amount of covering ordinarily taking a run of eight hours to empty them. To provide constant compensation for such change in the lay is an important feature of the invention, and for this purpose a sprocket I59 is secured to a ratchet I50 which is fixed to the control shaft I5I of the variable transmission I01. An electric motor I52 is connected through a series of geared speed reducers I53, I54 to a sprocket I55 which engages a chain I56 meshing with sprocket I550. The arrangement is such that the speed of travel of the rubber thread through the fliers is gradually changed throughout the run from full spools on the flier to empty ones and the change in speed is such as to maintain the lay of the coverings at a desired angle. The variable speed transmission I! is provided with a hand wheel I60 fixed to shaft II and sprocket I50 is secured to the shaft by a ratchet I50 permitting free turning in one direction so that the transmission can be adjusted at the end of a run to starting position.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The variable speed transmission I08 is set for the desired speed ratio of the fliers I9 and I9a. The transmission I01 is set at its starting position. Spools 69 of rubber thread are placed on the cradle rolls and the ends of the threads are threaded through the fliers and about the pulling rolls to the reels. A full spool of covering material has previously been placed on each flier, the spools all being filled to the same diameter. The ends of the covering material are tied to the rubber threads. The motors I05 and I52 are then started and no attention of the operator is required except to watch for broken threads. If a flier spool is to be stopped, the operator raises the shaft 23 by use of the shifter 59 and stops the flier long enough to tie in the thread. When a long delay is necessary the entire apparatus may be stopped by stopping the motors I05 and I52 and, due to the geared drive of the fliers, stopping and starting of the entire bank of fliers is accomplished simultaneously.

While the apparatus has been shown as one for covering two threads, in practice many threads are covered simultaneously by a single machine.

Where the term rubber thread is used in this description it is intended to include elastic threads of soft vulcanized rubber either natural or synthetic, or other materials having the physical characteristics of rubber.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for simultaneously winding coverings about a plurality of elastic threads, said apparatus comprising an elastic thread supply, a plurality of fliers, wind-up means for drawing elastic thread from said supply through said fliers and rewinding it, positive driving means for supplying power at the same velocity to all said fliers, and clutch means at each flier on said driving means for engaging and disengaging the flier individually with said driving means, said clutch means comprising a friction clutch initially engageable with said flier to accelerate the velocity of the flier to normal speed, and a positively engageable clutch subsequently engageable with said flier at such normal speed to maintain equal velocity of said fliers during continued operation.

2. Apparatus for simultaneously winding a covering about a plurality of elastic threads, said apparatus comprising a plurality of supply spools for storing elastic thread, a reel for drawing elastic threads from said supply spools, a plurality of fliers each rotatable about a reach of the elastic thread between said supply spools and said reel for applying a helical covering about said threads, and means for driving said supply spools, said reel, and said fliers, said driving means comprising a single power supply for said fliers as a group and a geared driving connection thereon at each flier for driving said fliers positively in unison from said power supply, said fliers each having means for selectively disconnecting it from its driving connection, said selective disconnecting means comprising a positive drive clutch and a friction clutch engageable in advance of engagement of said positive drive clutch to accelerate the velocity of said flier in advance of engagement of said positive drive clutch.

ANTON G. SEIFRIED.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

